We're in the market for a new propane grill. Ideally, we'd like something that will sear steaks as well as our Blue Star cook top. We'd also like a rotissere. Oh, and a grill that is durable, dependable, and attractive. And cheap, too

Hi Niki,
I am getting a new grill myself this year. Have it ordered and should get word of shipment next week. It does in fact have a gas burner included, but I suspect my cooking on it will be 99% or more charcoal. I will post a URL at the bottom of the page. This grill will meet most of your requirements, all but the cheap part. If you look at it, I am getting the K7 but the K3 might be more attractive from a price point.

Niki (Dayton OH) wrote:We're in the market for a new propane grill. Ideally, we'd like something that will sear steaks as well as our Blue Star cook top. We'd also like a rotissere. Oh, and a grill that is durable, dependable, and attractive. And cheap, too

Any recommendations? Thanks in advance.

The Jenn-Aire three and four-burner grills ($699 and $899 respectively) are hard to beat. All stainless, 14,000 BTU rotisserie burner, 12,000 BTU side burner, 52,000 BTU burners, and electronic ignitors -- one-fourth the price of a Viking.

Niki (Dayton OH) wrote:We're in the market for a new propane grill. Ideally, we'd like something that will sear steaks as well as our Blue Star cook top. We'd also like a rotissere. Oh, and a grill that is durable, dependable, and attractive. And cheap, too

Any recommendations? Thanks in advance.

I recommend getting a charcoal grill. I have yet to meet a gas grill that can equal charcoal in terms of both heat and flavor. Last year I did a three-day series of outdoor demos for GMC for which ocasion they got me a top-of-the-line gas grill. I see one - and only one - advantage to the gas grill - overall cleanliness. If cleanliness is of greater importance than food quality, then by all means a gas grill in the way to go.

Chef, although I agree with you in principle, the reality is that without something quick and easy to get to temp, and easy to clean, there just ain't gonna be much grillin round our place. Sounds like the Kamado might be the best of both worlds, though...we'll have to do some thinking on this...

While I agree with the ideal of charcoal (hardwood, not briquettes!), as Niki notes in real life gas gets used a lot more. For many years I stuck to my charcoal guns. Every weekend in summer I would grill. When I got married 5 years ago, Betsy would occasionally ask me to grill something on a Tuesday. "Aw, sweetie, I'd have to dump ashes, start charcoal, clean grill - it'll be an hour before dinner and I'm really tired!"

Once we got a gas grill (midrange Weber) suddenly I'm willing to grill 7 days, even suggesting "hey, Bets, maybe I could grill that corn/squash/whatever" even if main course wasn't grilled. And grilling season lasts late March through November (with occasional Dec-Feb uses). Getting as hot as charcoal requires some practice (when you flip, flip onto a fresh hot spot, not straight over; be sure to really preheat with top down), but the frequency of use validates the use of gas.

Dale Williams wrote:While I agree with the ideal of charcoal (hardwood, not briquettes!), as Niki notes in real life gas gets used a lot more. For many years I stuck to my charcoal guns. Every weekend in summer I would grill. When I got married 5 years ago, Betsy would occasionally ask me to grill something on a Tuesday. "Aw, sweetie, I'd have to dump ashes, start charcoal, clean grill - it'll be an hour before dinner and I'm really tired!"

Once we got a gas grill (midrange Weber) suddenly I'm willing to grill 7 days, even suggesting "hey, Bets, maybe I could grill that corn/squash/whatever" even if main course wasn't grilled. And grilling season lasts late March through November (with occasional Dec-Feb uses). Getting as hot as charcoal requires some practice (when you flip, flip onto a fresh hot spot, not straight over; be sure to really preheat with top down), but the frequency of use validates the use of gas.

This is one instance where I really do "stick to my guns." I have cooked at friend's homes and doing demos on every type of gas grill, all price ranges, brands, colors, materials. Still haven't found one that cooks with the quality of charcoal.

And it seems to me that in this instance, the particular American penchant for speed, cleanliness and convenience has bigger guns than I do and is winning this war.

Several years ago I got into it with an engineer on in one of the forums on Compuserve about microwave ovens. (He was a staunch supporter, in case you were wondering.) In the end he finally admitted that a microwave oven cooks by exciting the liquid molecules and boiling the food from the inside out - and that was the *only* way to cook food in a microwave. And, ultimately, that there was not a single item one could cook in a microwave that would not be better if made with another technique.

I am probably embarking on yet another of my many Sisyphean endeavors here. While the perfect burger would be a terrific meal and welcome treat if I fired up the grill, there is a MacDonald's right up the street.

ChefCarey wrote:This is one instance where I really do "stick to my guns." I have cooked at friend's homes and doing demos on every type of gas grill, all price ranges, brands, colors, materials. Still haven't found one that cooks with the quality of charcoal.

And it seems to me that in this instance, the particular American penchant for speed, cleanliness and convenience has bigger guns than I do and is winning this war.

I'm with you on this one Chef. I have occasionally been tempted by the promise of convenience with gas grills but I resisted. Having both large and small grills has worked for me. The small grill uses so much less charcoal that it's ready quickly, makes little mess and does fast searing very well. The big grill is for longer cooking like smoking poultry or large quantities. Between them we are staying in the charcoal camp. But I would never refuse a meal cooking on gas.

ChefCarey wrote:This is one instance where I really do "stick to my guns." I have cooked at friend's homes and doing demos on every type of gas grill, all price ranges, brands, colors, materials. Still haven't found one that cooks with the quality of charcoal.

And it seems to me that in this instance, the particular American penchant for speed, cleanliness and convenience has bigger guns than I do and is winning this war.

I am probably embarking on yet another of my many Sisyphean endeavors here. While the perfect burger would be a terrific meal and welcome treat if I fired up the grill, there is a MacDonald's right up the street.

Yup, I agree with charcoal also. I have a gas grill that I haven't used for over a year, but I go through a lot of charcoal. It's worth the mess and the time.

Doug

If God didn't want me to eat animals, why did He make them out of meat?

We ended up buying an Amana stainless steel gas grill yesterday. We looked at the JennAir ($699 at Lowes) and compared it with the Amana ($399 at Target, with a $50 store gift-card thrown in). The Amana looked as solidly built as the JennAir, had more BTUs, and was cheaper.

Why that little ... OK, I've just re-set the forum so future registrants will have to be approved by me before they can post. I didn't want to do that during the first wave of registrations, but at this point I can handle the load. "Blog green" my butt ... he's history ...

Shipping? heck Niki, I don't even want to talk about that. what with the increased cost of fuel it is running me a little over $400 delivered to my home. It is being shipped via a trucking lines instead of UPS or such. Weight on the grill alone is 600 pounds, and I am getting 400 pounds of special coconut shell extruded charcoal. The charcoal is supposed to burn longer and hotter than regular briquitts and produce nearly no ash. We shall see.

Chef, check out the grill in the URL that I provided in my original response to Niki. This thing is even self cleaning. it is possible to bring the heat up to 800 degrees or higher which will burn any residue from the walls and the cooking grids.

Seeing these perfectly good prime rib eyes in my freezer and realizing your just down the street geographically with THE GRILL TO END ALL GRILLS makes me nervous. While my mother taught me to never invite myself over to other peoples homes I might have to make an exception in your case! I could kidnap Robin on the way and talk him into chefdom for the day. Have a great Derby Day. I will be thankfully out of town in Eastern Kentucky that weekend.

We ended up buying an Amana stainless steel gas grill yesterday. We looked at the JennAir ($699 at Lowes) and compared it with the Amana ($399 at Target, with a $50 store gift-card thrown in). The Amana looked as solidly built as the JennAir, had more BTUs, and was cheaper.

I saw this thread a little late but I am glad to see that you went stainless.

I am also looking at a new grill coz my 10+ year old gas Weber (with no stainless parts) has rust issues. A key part has disintegrated and it seems the bolts that held it in place are following suit. Repair will be difficult if not impossible. So my hearty recco is to go stainless.

Bob Henrick wrote:Chef, check out the grill in the URL that I provided in my original response to Niki. This thing is even self cleaning. it is possible to bring the heat up to 800 degrees or higher which will burn any residue from the walls and the cooking grids.

I just checked and like Mailer revised his review of Waiting for Godot *after* he actually saw it, I may have a slight revision to my opinion. I had not realized you could cook with 100% charcoal if you chose on this grill.